Back to Berlin
Christine Hayes revisits an important place from her past
I am almost a birthright Friend, having grown up in Sutton Meeting. During the second world war Friends at the Meeting developed a special relationship with young German prisoners of war at the nearby camp, inviting them into their homes and, also, to Meeting for Worship. My parents kept in touch with ‘our’ prisoners after their repatriation, and there was an exchange of letters and visits until their deaths. My friends and I also took part in Quaker work camps in the East End of London, progressing later to international work camps abroad. I had a special interest in all things German, undoubtedly kindled by this intense experience when I was a small child. I took part in a work camp in Bavaria in 1960 and, the following year, another one in Berlin.
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